Explorers _ Listening to God.

Our welcome circle included a family of three children who have come to live in the Glebe and it was good to see their reserve start melting as they enjoyed the craft activities and later sandwich making.

We started by all welcoming each other in our cushion circle and Steve lead with the Lord's Prayer.

We continued with our theme of prayer and Steve played the story of Moses and the burning Bush on his lap top. The volume was rather low so the children sat in rapt attention in order to hear. Silent too!

But that soon changed with many giggles during a game of Chinese whispers. Steve was given a crash course in pom-pom making as all adult extra hands were needed. The bright colours of wool wrapped round the cardboard rings and cut to look like burning bushes.

A frieze burning Bush was made by glueing flames of bright crepe and gold foil sparks and this will be put up in the church.

We all signed a card of thank you to Steve and Chris as, sadly for us, they are moving to be nearer their family. The children glued a crepe burning Bush on the front and a copy of the Lord's Prayer on the back to remind him of the happy times we had together, hoping he will remember us with fondness.

Next Xplorers Sunday 5th November Kilmelford Village Hall 3pm to 4.30. All welcome

A very memorable explorer's gathering made by the addition of four visiting children who came along with a local family. They were full of energy and excitement as we sat in the cushion circle to open with a welcome and prayer. The first game of pass the parcel with the first lines of the Lord's Prayer, printed on cards, to be unwrapped and arranged in order on the floor was fast and furious.

Alex's story of Daniel and the Lion's Den held the children's attention while the youngest visitor decided to run and slide across the floor from one side of the circle to the other.

Moving on to the crafts and friendship bracelet making needed more grown-up hands to keep the beads from flying all over the place and the braiding managed. The cardboard box and woodland materials were made into an amazing lion's den as each child added their ideas and painted cardboard cut out lions to prowl round the scene.

No photos taken at the time as all adults had their hands full but the scene has been put into Kilmelford church.

A much needed refreshment time with Alex making jammy and Nutella pieces as quick as they were eaten. Victoria's valuable help to make drinks and prevent spillages. Packets of cheddar consumed before a final circle, closing prayer and all saying the Grace together.

Antoinette and Ren took their charges home and Alex and Georgina swept up. A bright and noisy session, no tears or tempers , high excitement and we were left with a definite feeling that God was with us.

A small group of five,highly energetic, children kept us all active and focused on learning the Lord's Prayer. The words of the first five lines were printed on to cards to be secured to a washing line (badminton net) with wooden cloths pegs; the children had to work out the order they went in.

Alex took us through the meaning of God's Kingdom come with props for the children to act the parts.

Christingles to make and most of the young knew what the symbols represented and a lot of the harvest fruits were consumed before they could be pushed on to the cocktail sticks.

As ever their creative minds set to using much glue and glitters stuck on to cards and the youngest Explorer made a beautiful card using the cut out old Christmas cards, gold stars and a gold pen to write inside to wish the receiver a happy Christmas. The cloth wreath rings were started and cut pieces of remnants taken home to finish as time had slipped by and hunger set in.

Cheddar, crisps and jam and honey sandwiches were rapidly made and consumed with reviving mugs of tea for the grownups before we reassembled on the cushion circle to all say the first five lines of the Lord's Prayer and for Alex to say a concluding prayer.

We closed with all saying The Grace together .Each child and adult was given a wee hand knitted stocking to take home with treats and a Christingle card inside. Children unable to be with us will be given one in the next day or so.

Next Explorers will be on the first Sunday of February the 4th 3pm to 4.30.

Wishing all involved a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Continuing with learning the Lord's Prayer we have reached the line "Give us this day our daily bread".

After welcoming Rev. Trudi Newton ( our new Minister) to our cushion circle we started with a prayer. We then passed the parcels of the words round to Alex's music. On opening, the children had to work out their order and peg them on to the 'washing line' to add to the first Iines of the prayer. The children had pegged them up when they first arrived.

Alex took us through the story of the widow of Zarepheth (1st Kings ch 17 vs. 8 - 16 ) and God's instructions to Elijah to go and ask her for water and bread. As she was prepared to share the last of her flour and oil God replaced the flour in its pot and the oil in its jar.

Alex had prepared a recipe and ingredients which the children were all excitingly involved in mixing and kneading. They shaped their own buns and pricked an identifying pattern on top. The hall oven was ready heated for them to cook while we moved on to making and decorating gift boxes, reminding the children that they are a gift to give to someone else.

The creation of a picnic scene using the sides of cardboard from Trudi's empty packing cases and cutting out pictures of favourite foods allowed us time to talk about us having enough flour and ingredients to make a variety of meals in our homes.

Thank you very much for all the adult's help and the eight children who made it to a happy gathering.Also in preparation thanks to Shirley for the advertising, Antoinette for the posters and Ren for collecting craft materials.

I managed to lose site of my phone and specs and after much searching, also in the rain and dark, found them in the paper carrier bag which contained all the Lord' Prayer words.

Our 3rd March Explorers was held in the church as the hall was not available.

An elderly couple from the village joined us at 3 o'clock as they didn't manage to go to the evening World Day Of Prayer. They commented how lovely it was to be involved with the group of young and happily joined in in the songs , prayer responses and crafts. Trudi had adapted the World day of prayer youth service and all five of the children were happy to read some parts.

We drew round our hands and cut out their shapes to write a name or two of special people to remember in our prayers, and hung the hands on the olive tree branches.

Keeping the crafts simple we coloured in book markers so that they could be given to friends with the words "Put Peace into each other's hands and like a treasure hold them."

A heartfelt plea from the Palestinian women who wrote this year's World day of Prayer service.

Many thanks to Antoinette for designing the posters and transmitting the music from Alex Prouty for our songs and Jane for taking a photo of the crafts.

Our next Xplorers is on Sunday 5th April and we have booked the hall.

It was .lovely to be in the church again- roll on the building of the Annexe so we can return and have the space and facilities.

We closed with Trudi giving a Blessing and all saying the Grace together.

Alex and I did not know that we had a hidden team of thespians in our Xplorers. Once the script that Alex wrote and the props came out there was no holding back.

We did start though with our cushion circle and a prayer to collect our thoughts and fellowship.

The Lord's Prayer words up to date were fixed to the washing line and the next lines "forgiving our debts and debtors" were worked out in their order by the children and then explained by Alex.

The characters of Joseph and his brothers, the Pharaoh and a sheep were decided. A coat of many colours, a selection of beards and a Pharaoh's hat were keenly donned. The sheep practiced much baa-ing.

Alex Read the narration and the six children played their parts with enthusiasm. Time was given to discuss the meaning of forgiveness and scenarios in life today talked about. Then the crafts got underway by making various pits out of boxes, glue, paper, sticks and leaves. The dolly peg figures for Joseph and the brothers were a bit more of a challenge so some extra materials were taken home to finish.

I had completely forgotten to prepare squares for the 'fortune tellers' so we dug back in our brains to remember how to fold the paper. Antoinette and Ren helped the children to fill in their choices.

Time by then had rushed by so a quick snack to sustain with cartons of juice and crisps.

We returned to the cushions to have a closing prayer for all to say The Grace together before all went home.

Alex and I did a big tidy up. A memorable day.Thank you all. Georgina

Thankfully the heavy rain showers ceased and the warm sunshine came out to dry the area and grass in front of the church so that Alex and I could hide the newspaper wrapped items for the treasure hunt for the Explorers to find.

After a gathering prayer children had to fit in the missing words of the Lord's Prayer lines which were placed on the book rests of the pews. The final lines
" thine is the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory for ever Amen ".
was the focus of this our last gathering before the holidays. The order of these words were worked out and placed on the Communion table.
Alex explained the importance of these words in our lives.

The objects hidden outside were all symbols of power, glory or kingdom or all three. A great exciting hunt began as there were about 30 parcels to find and put in a box to open in the church. Each 'treasure was unwrapped in turn and a great discussion was had as to whether it went into the big orange flower pot for 'glory' ,a black bucket for 'power' or a basket for 'kingdom'. The responses and suggestions from the children were a mix of serious or very funny.

A mess of paper cleared away and the lighthouse game put on a table. This started with a throw of six to gain entry at the door and rounds of dice shaken to climb up to the top either helped by a lifeboat symbol to go forward one space or a bucket to go back one.Once at the top a 'beam' was written on to shine a light in our lives.

The final craft was making paper windmills and they were quickly assembled before a needed drink of apple juice and several jammy dodgers.

The final Grace was said altogether and Alex had made an Explorers card with a copy of the Lord's Prayer inside and our best wishes for a happy holiday.

We look forward to meeting again on the first Sunday in September.

Thank you to everyone who has helped and prayed for this group to continue in it's work to bring the love of God to the younger generation.